7digital,
the leading open digital music platform, today announced that 21 by
Adele was the top selling album of 2012 in the United States and Call Me
Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen was the top selling track. The full list of
top 20 best sellers is listed below.

New partnerships in the mobile and connected device space have seen
7digitial’s mobile reach increase by 277% in 2012. Mobile now accounts
for 67% of sales, up from 50% in December 2011. 7digital’s
Android app attracted an additional 1 million users in Q4 of 2012,
bringing the total to 4.3 million.

7digital’s track to album sales ratio was 3:8, meaning the company is
selling far more albums vs. tracks compared to the industry average of
6:7. The company attributes this to its practice of merchandising albums
as opposed to tracks, and pricing albums aggressively so that consumers
see the value of buying the entire release, not just a single.

During 2012 7digital continued to expand its network of partnerships in
both downloads and streaming, bringing music applications to new devices
and services. Major partnerships with Microsoft, Acer, Sonos and Pioneer
brought 7digital
apps to Windows 8 PCs, connected TVs and in-car entertainment
systems, while the launch of a Windows Phone 8 app and new partnerships
with Samsung, RIM and HTC increased the company’s mobile footprint.

“Streaming is an increasingly important part of our business in the US.
Radio continues to be the number one music discovery mechanism, and
coupled with downloads, it gives music fans new music and ownership of
their favorite songs and albums. The launch of on-demand streaming and
acquiring publishing rights was a huge feat and major upgrade,” said
Vickie Nauman, president of 7digital North America. “The abundance of
start-ups that are building innovative applications around music
contributes to a creative marketplace and new legally licensed uses for
digital music. The demand from start ups was a major catalyst for us
creating the prototype package, which allows developers access to our
API to create a live, working prototype while they seek funding or
simply hone the user experience. This creates much-needed ramp time.”

In response to the growing business, North American operations were also
expanded with key hires and offices in New York, LA, and San Francisco.

Expansion will continue in 2013, with the roll-out of more on-demand and
radio streaming from the 7digital platform. Connected devices will be
the largest platform for music in 2013, and 7digital will continue to
offer an open platform that is compatible with the widest range of
mobile devices. This will be increasingly important in the coming year;
as music fans have the choice of download, streaming and radio services,
music collections and libraries will need to be accessible on the
different platforms consumers are using.

“The increasing availability of 4G and high speed mobile connections,
coupled with the increasing number of devices and services, means
connected devices will continue to be a growth area in 2013,” comments
Ben Drury, CEO at 7digital. “Music fans have a much bigger choice in how
they purchase digital music today. As well as download, radio and
streaming there is also the options of access; free, rental through
subscriptions, and purchase. The increase in mobile and variety of
access options is a big opportunity for us, especially with the launch
of our new streaming services in the coming year and presence on a wide
range of connected device platforms.”

“We’ll also likely see more high levels of investment in the digital
music sector in 2013, coupled with more high market valuations of
digital music companies. While these may not all pan out as investors
hope, it’s encouraging to see so much enthusiasm for the digital music
space going into 2013.”

* Note: the list provided reflect sales from across 7digital’s US
consumer store.

About 7digital

7digital is the world’s leading digital music and content technology
platform, and provides open access to the broadest catalogue of fully
licensed, high quality digital music. The company powers comprehensive
digital music services for consumers, developers and a wide range of
partners around the world.

Through 7digital’s website (www.7digital.com),
mobile applications and cloud locker technology, consumers can access
over 22 million legal, high quality tracks and listen to their music on
the device of their choosing. 7digital provides the complete music
experience; discovery, organization and purchase.

The 7digital API (Application Programming Interface) allows developers
and partners to license 7digital’s technology platform and music
catalogue to create new music websites, applications and devices, or to
integrate music into existing services. The 7digital API removes the
complexity of developing digital music services by providing partners
and developers with an extensive catalogue that is fully licensed by
major labels, independent labels and royalty collection societies. The
API enables a range of digital music services to be developed; from a la
carte downloads to radio streaming.

7digital has provided digital music services to hundreds of
international partners, including record companies, artists, FMCG
brands, retailers, consumer electronics companies, fashion brands,
advertising agencies and many other organizations. Using 7digital’s
technology platform, partners can harness the power of digital music to
engage with their customers.

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